The project ‘Empowering Youth Entrepreneurship through Capacity-building Activities and Networking’ lasted 9 months (1.9.2016 - 31.5.2017) and it consisted on two mobility activities: a training course that was implemented in Durres, Albania that got together organizations and their representatives with strong interest in entrepreneurship and a second training course implemented in Prizren, Kosovo, in which young leaders with great entrepreneurial ideas were trained to develop their business plans. There were 40 participants in each mobility activity, 4 representatives for each organization from the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Latvia, Italy, Kosovo* UN resolution, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. Besides mobility activities the project included activities aiming to strengthen the impact of the project and ensure its visibility.
This project included participation from different youth groups such as:
a) Youth workers, active in the youth entrepreneurship field who saw a need in improving their competences (TC1);
b) Youth workers, supporting young entrepreneurs in their local community on developing project ideas (TC1);
c) Young leaders with great entrepreneurial ideas aiming on developing a business plan and improving their business skills (TC2);
d) Involved in the youth entrepreneurial community of startup events, accelerators programs and incubators (TC1&2);
e) Strong motivation to strengthen their knowledge on entrepreneurship and Erasmus + Programme possibilities and work on development of new ideas that would lead to new projects, enterprises or activities empowering young people (TC1&2);
f) Interest to take part in non-formal base activities and open to work in multicultural environment (TC1&2).
The partner organizations shared the struggle of youth entrepreneurship problems in their respective communities. Through the implementation of the project, the partner organizations raised their capacities in the field and improve their work in the area by applying the new lessons learned. They also raised awareness about entrepreneurship and efficiently empower young people in becoming entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, work in the entrepreneurship sector has been strongly promoted. Participant organizations, gaining a new insight of the entrepreneurial field and having as common interest working on entrepreneurship development, were motivated to develop other projects in their countries. The participant organizations had the possibility to keep in touch with the experts of the implemented activities even after the project was finished. In this way, the experts advised the participants on their new project ideas.
